Jon
Kennedy, Nanty Glo Home Page webmaster and owner, is a former teen and campus
minister. He began his journalism career as teen columnist for the Nanty Glo Journal
and its sister weekly newspapers from 1957 to '62 and became the Journal's
third editor in 1962 at age 20. He has edited other newspapers and magazines,
and more recently, webzines, ever since. His articles have appeared in the Los
Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Christianity
Today, and many other publications. His Jonals appear here on Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays.

Intolerance

A
correspondent had a complaint about my entry last week about Nicholas Kristoff's
column in the New York Times and elsewhere ridiculing and misrepresenting
Christians and fans of the Left Behind series of books for taking the historic
doctrine of the second coming and judgment of Christ seriously. My critic said
I sounded intolerant. Yes, I was obviously not "tolerating" Kristoff's
views (if that means giving a pass without the best retort I could make to such
journalistic malpractice). But I was certainly tolerant enough to not try burning
down the plants that print the newspapers or even look up Kristoff and punch him
in the nose.

Just which passages, phrases, even single words,
in the piece struck my critic as intolerant, I asked. Armed with that information,
I might be able to amend my ways. Maybe if they were highlighted I could see the
bugaboo intolerance too. I'm still waiting for an answer.

I
think I'm very tolerant. I welcome criticism of my output and arguments civilly
presented against my political and even religious points of view. I believe that
honest debate is a keystone of democracy, and though "reason" is not
my highest source of truth, it's good enough for debating those who are rationalists.
I treat all people as neighbors, even regarding them as potential friends, and
don't drop acquaintances if I find them disagreeing with my stated views, and
hope they are equally charitable toward me. I believe there are at least two (usually
more than two) sides to any issue and feel it's incumbent on good neighbors to
comprehend as many of them as they can (though I'm not required to regard any
of them as true or valid if I see a better alternative). This is what I consider
to be "toleration." It doesn't mean failing to stand for right where
and when you discern it, especially when there's an opportunity to oppose wrong.

Some
Orthodox saints have become so filled with love that they have proposed that eventually
everyone, even Satan, will be saved. I'm not sure if I'm just not loving enough
or if this proves my critic's point, but I confess I'm not that tolerant. (Orthodoxy
proscribes teaching that "hope" as a doctrine of the church but allows
holy men and women to hold and express private opinions.) But just what do we
mean by "intolerant"?

Declaring war on everyone
who disagrees with us is intolerant. But is also expressing disagreement, even
in strong words, to oppose other ideas intolerance? Where do we draw the line?
That question is the origin, no doubt, of the expression and the conception of
whether it's your, or my, ox that's being gored. You consider me intolerant when
I disapprove gay "marriage"; I see you as intolerant when you dismiss
people who call homosexual lifestyle choices sins.

The United
States Congress is often cited for its culture of toleration. Opponents on bills
and social visions can "rip each other up one side and down the other"
in debates in the chambers, but may be good friends when the recess gavel comes
down, often to the amazement of onlookers, sometimes even causing questions about
the sincerity (or its opposite, hypocrisy) of the elected representatives.

But
to such skeptics, perhaps the call of Jesus, "love your enemies" is
the key. He didn't say you won't have enemies, only that you have to find ways
to love them.

I suspect that my critic was actually put off
by what he took as rudeness on my part, which is ironic, as I believe rudeness
is intolerable. So I'll take that up next time.

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